


Hear Me Out

by cancerously



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-30
Updated: 2011-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-28 12:59:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/308122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cancerously/pseuds/cancerously
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humanstuck AU, Vriska/Kanaya; Kanaya is an up-and-coming romance writer, taking her inspiration from the girl with messy hair who throws acorns at people in the park. For the Ladystuck gift exchange. For northernvehemence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hear Me Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [northernvehemence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/northernvehemence/gifts).



> Written for the Ladystuck gift exchange; rewritten a few million times, but I hope you like it, northernvehemence!

“And then, as they looked into each other’s eyes, they knew- and would know for the rest of their lives- that this was no chance meeting. That their affection, the spark they felt in that moment, was the most genuine form of love either of them had ever experienced.” The book shut with a quiet pap. “See, wasn’t that romantic?”

Vriska took a deadpan look at Eridan, casually chucking a rock over her shoulder. “I hope you appreciate that I chose not to throw that at you for that retching line you just fed me. Never do it again.”

Eridan huffed, slamming the book down onto the park bench and leaning back with a sigh. “Vris, I’m just tryin to share a good book, why do you have to shoot me down every time I try to tell you about – ”

“Because I don’t _care_ , Eridipshit.” Vriska stood, putting her hands on her hips. “You’re the one who walked up gushing about this stupid thing. Where the hell did you find this, anyway? I know you’re lonely, but looking to these sorts of books make you seem like a teenage goddamn girl.” She was used to Eridan’s hurt face by now, so it was no surprise when he stuck his bottom lip out and opened his eyes as wide as they would go. “And cut that out!”

He sighed dejectedly, slumping backwards over the bench like a ragdoll. “If you gotta know, I’m a friend of the writer—don’t say it!”

“Oh wow, you have friends? Well now I know you’re lying.” She cackled, rounding on him. “You can’t have friends, you’re Eridan!”

“Yeah, I do!” Eridan sprung up, shoving the book into Vriska’s arms. “Kan’s a good friend of mine and we talk all the time and just read it ‘cause you’d like it an stop tellin me I can’t have friends!”

Vriska looked like she was caught between throwing it in his face and saying something before Eridan was huffing away down the cold path. Vriska settled to rolling her eyes and looking at the book; looked like one of those bodice-rippers they sold in grocery stores so repressed housewives could have masturbation fodder. On the other hand, if this girl knew Eridan, she had to be desperate, and it ought to be really, really good.

Slipping the novel into her bag, she started for home, purposefully taking the long way just in case Eridan saw she hadn’t thrown it out.

\---  
Vriska had forgotten that the book was even in her bag until she knocked it over that night, and it made a louder thud than she’d intended. Spinning in her computer chair with a grimace, she lifted the book into her lap. _It’s Good To Be In Love_ ran across the top, the author’s name in a smaller script underneath; Kanaya Maryam. Vriska fake-gagged for no one in particular, dropping the book on the desk and resuming her internet conversation.

GC: PL34S3 T3LL M3 YOU 4R3 NOT OFF T3RROR1Z1NG T4VROS WH3N YOU STOP TYP1NG B4CK TO M3  
AG: He isn’t even online, dum8ass!  
AG: I’m just looking through this stupid 8ook Eriderp gave me.  
AG: It’s soooooooo lame!  
GC: WH4T BOOK 1S 1T?  
AG: Some romance novel. I know it’s his thing to 8e desperate or whatever, 8ut it’s soooooooo 8ad!  
AG: I might just read it as a joke.  
GC: 3R1D4N M4Y B3 K1ND OF 4NNOY1NG BUT H3 DO3S NOT H4V3 T3RR1BL3 L1T3R4TUR3  
GC: 1T M4Y B3 WORTH 1T TO G1V3 1T 4 CH4NC3  
AG: And why would I take your advice?  
GC: B3C4US3 1 4M R1GHT 4 M4JOR1TY OF TH3 T1M3!  
GC: H3H3H3H3H3H3H3  
AG: Oh get your stupid tongue off your screen and stop 8ugging me!  
AG: May8e I’ll get around to it. Maaaaaaaay8e.  
AG: Just tell him I shredded it or something.  
GC: H3H3H3H3H3  
GC: WH4T3V3R YOU S4Y, VR1SK4

Turning away from the computer with a grimace, Vriska paged through. Maybe it would be funny. Or something.

\---

Kanaya brushed her fork lazily over her cake, taking care with the icing. All around her, the café buzzed with life, but her mind weighed heavily. “So what is it you think I should do?”

“How the hell should I know?” Across the table was her friend Karkat, currently annihilating a burger. “You don’t just walk up to someone and go ‘hey, I’ve been creepily watching you every goddamn day and now I’m making profit off of you because I’m an asswipe, wanna grab a coffee?’”  
Kanaya rubbed her temple. “I do not think that is quite how I would approach her, though approaching her at all is the real problem. I cannot imagine she has ever noticed me, or cared.”

Karkat placed his sandwich on the plate, looking currently more like a punching bag. “Look. Meet her like a goddamn normal person, instead of a stalker. Sit down on the bench next to her and strike up a conversation! God, all of you can’t figure out anything without shitting yourselves in the process. All you have to do is talk, she’ll bitch like you’ve seen her doing and maybe you’ll talk more. What the fuck are you afraid of?”

“When you lay it out so frankly, my worries do seem rather foolish.” Kanaya grimaced, trying to eat a little more. “She is just so… different, and I suppose my actions have  
already lead me into a corner. Maybe you have the right idea.”

“Of course I goddamn do.” Karkat took another bite out of his burger. “Just go do _something_ before I start retching over all your fucking feelings.”  
Kanaya attempted a better smile. “Thank you, Karkat. I will attempt to rectify the situation as soon as possible.”

\---

Kanaya waited in the park for two hours before she arrived.

Vriska sat down the benches, hands shoved in her pockets and hair tangled in a way that still managed to look ‘put together’. Kanaya knew what she was doing by now; her pockets were full of acorns, collected from around the park in a slippery way that no one ever saw her. She’d sit here for at least 40 minutes every few days, casually tossing them at the backs of the heads of the people she was bored with. Maybe it was a sign of affection; she couldn’t tell.

All Kanaya knew was this woman, this person she’d never seen outside of this park, was her muse, and she needed to talk to her before she lost her forever.  
Pulling herself from the park bench, she slipped down the row bench by bench, until they were close enough to touch. Biting her lip, she tried to sneakily look over a few times to find something to talk about. Her hair? No, that was hardly a conversation topic. She grappled for almost three minutes before smiling, ever slightly, when she found her answer- her novel, the one she’d published a few months ago, was in this other girl’s bag. Sucking in some air through her lips, she looked towards Vriska. “Hello.”

Vriska jumped slightly, scattering an acorn or two on the ground. “Uh, do I know you?”

“Well, not precisely,” Kanaya stammered a little, eyes flicking over her person for something to talk about. “Except I happened to notice that you, ah, were reading one of my… favorite books. I happened to see it in your bag.”

Vriska gave her a look like she was crazy, clutching her bag a little closer. “I wasn’t reading it! I just have it. This stupid guy I know gave it to me.”

“Oh, well, ah,” Kanaya made an attempt on her composure, even smiling to seem more cordial. “Have you, uhm, read it yet? I feel if you gave it a chance, you’d really like it.”

“And why should I?” Vriska looked directly at her now, dropping her hands by her sides. “I don’t just listen to any Miss Fussyface that just walks up to me. Why the hell are you even speaking to me?”

“I merely thought you would be interesting, and I thought we shared something in common.” Oh, this was fading fast. “If you dislike it so much, maybe it would be nice to hear a different opinion.”

Vriska sighed, rolling her eyes without discretion. “It’s just so goddamn cheesy! Like, it could never happen in real life. People don’t just fall in love when their eyes meet with birds and a harp! It’s ridiculous. Love isn’t a thing that happens to normal people anyway.”

“Normal people?” Kanaya cocked her head slightly. “Everyone can fall in love. Even a chance meeting can result in love.”

“Pshh. You sound just like her.”

“So you have read it.”

“I didn’t say tha—Look, forget about it!” Vriska jumped to her feet, grabbing her bag and offering Kanaya just a glimpse at what she thought was a bookmark. “What’s your name, anyway?”

Kanaya’s throat tightened. She hadn’t thought about that, and how could she identify herself now? “Ah, it’s—Rosalyn.”

Vriska scrunched her face a little, but it didn’t look malicious. “Huh. Well, Miss Fussyface, maybe I will read your beloved little story. If I feel like it.” Turning on her heel, she began to walk away.

“W-Wait!” Kanaya perked up. “What is your name?”

Vriska looked over her shoulder, smirking a little. “Vriska,” she called back. “And maybe I’ll be here tomorrow.”

The way the sun silhouetted her, Kanaya mused, was almost poetic.

\---

It was a few weeks later when Kanaya realized she had to start telling the truth.

“So, okay, I know I told you I wasn’t reading this stupid thing, but…” Vriska started, toying the book between her hands. “But I kinda did, and it’s sort of freaking me out.”  
Kanaya turned to look at her. “What do you mean?”

“The main character.” Vriska started, flipping the book open. “She’s described like, exactly like me.”

Kanaya’s brain almost short-circuited. “What do you mean?”

“Man, I thought you read this.” Vriska pointed to a passage. “See, right here; she’s got long, dark hair, that’s kinda messy but not really, with glasses like mine and--” She paused to flip to another page, “Here, she’s wearing an outfit I have! It’s just weird.”

“Hmm,” Kanaya offered, brain buzzing. She hadn’t realized she’d wrote them so closely. “How do you, uhm, figure that?”

“I just feel like it might actually _be_ me.” Vriska sighed, placing the book back in her lap. “Which is weird, because I don’t even know the person who wrote this! It’s just weird.”

“You are probably just being rather paranoid,” The words tumbled out of Kanaya’s mouth, and she stood a little abruptly. “How could anyone you have never met have written about you? It is purely coincidence.”

“Hehe, yeah, you’re probably right!” Vriska snickered, tossing the book back in her bag. By the time she looked up again, Kanaya had disappeared.

\---

“Well Kan, sounds like you worked yourself into a corner.” Eridan’s voice came through the receiver that was currently pressed to Kanaya’s ear. “What’re you gonna do now?”

“I am not precisely sure,” Kanaya said. “I suppose I will have to accept the fact that she will be afraid of me and think I am a stalker.”

“Yeah, well it’s not… look, just talk to her. Vris can be mean, but she’s not… I mean, maybe she really likes you too. She kinda shows it through punching though.”

“I suppose, at this point,” Kanaya paused, “Anything is worth a chance.”

\---  
It was two hours later that Vriska knocked on her apartment door. Kanaya opened it with a gentle smile. “Hello, Vriska. Thank you for coming to meet me here.”

“Hey. Nice place.” Vriska said, strolling past. “So what is it you wanted to see me about this time?”

“Well, ah” Kanaya started, leading her into a small parlor area. “As you know, I have been speaking to you about getting into writing, and I wanted to know if you would look over a draft I have.”

“A draft? Yeah, sure, I’m sure I can make it waaaaaaaay better! Lay it on me, Fussyface.” Vriska plopped down on the couch as Kanaya handed her the papers. Vriska flipped through them, a strange smile starting to creep over her face.

“Rosalyn, these… these are about me.”

“Yes, I… I believe it is time I came clean to you, Vriska.” Kanaya sat next to her, looking into her lap. “My name is not Rosalyn. It’s Kanaya. Kanaya Maryam. The book you were reading, is mine. And she, I mean… yes, she is you.”

Vriska jumped off the couch, scattering the papers slightly. “That makes no sense! You didn’t know me when you wrote that!”

“I… I had been seeing you.” Kanaya refused to make eye contact. “I had seen you at the park, and I had been meaning to speak to you, I just… you were original. Unique. I did not know how to say hi.” Vriska had been looking straight at her, expression blank.

“So… what, you were scared of me?” Kanaya looked up with a jolt. Vriska was examining her dusty red shoes.

“I… I suppose so.”

Silence filled the room for a few moments until Kanaya heard Vriska’s footsteps going towards the door.

“Vriska, please, let me explain--”

“There’s nothing to explain.” Vriska cut in, rounding on Kanaya in the hallway to the door. “You’re scared of me, whatever, everyone is, it just happens. Did I just look cool to you? Like some edgy girl you could use for your goddamn stories?”

“No, it’s nothing like that!” Kanaya tried to plead, but Vriska was already in her face.

“Was it funny? That you could just make up your own stories to feed your obsession? Is that all you needed from me?” She was almost yelling by now, shoving Kanaya away. “I get it, I’m a freak you don’t want to talk to!”

“No, Vriska.” Kanaya stood, expression stony. “That is not the truth. I was afraid of what you would think of me.”

Vriska snorted. “Yeah, ‘cause the big bad girl with the spiderweb hair might tangle you in her web.”

“It is because you already have.” Kanaya allowed a small smile to fall on her lips. “I just felt as if… you gave me inspiration, Vriska. You were different, and I did not want to scare you with how I felt.”

Vriska didn’t look up, arms crossed. “… And how do you feel?”

“I… I wanted to know you better. I wanted to know you, the real you, and… perhaps you could get to know me.”

A few seconds of silence passed before either of them spoke.

“… Well, Fussyface, maybe you could get some cookies and I could hear you out.”


End file.
